Whew, what a crazy time we are living in, right? Never in our life would we imagine having to stay in quarantine, let alone doing it with the rest of the world. As the wise men said, there is no order without chaos; so maybe this is it. Maybe this is the chaos we need to put everything back in order again.
How are you? We hope you are all doing fine and staying healthy. We understand it could be a bit terrifying having to stay in a different country during a virus outbreak, but when you think about it, it is only for the best reasons. As you should already know, Bali is a melting point. A place where you meet people from all around the globe. Our international airports hold large exchanges of people flying in and out the country from and to all over the world. Sadly, it is also the place you need to avoid right now if you are wise enough to avoid anything that might expose you the threat.
Spending time at home, however, apparently gives us a lot of time and opportunity to think and reflect about life and happiness. In this article, in conjunction with the island’s positive vibe (let’s be honest, positive is a pretty scary word to use right now, but you get what we mean, don’t you?) we decide to put under the spotlight the ten good things we get from Corona.
- More family time.
Whether you like it or not in the beginning, being in quarantine has given us so much more time to spend with your family. This is a really good time to catch up with everyone’s life. Ask your spouse about their work, their life, their current activities. Ask your kids about their school, their friends, their hobbies and passion. Do game nights, do house chores together, cook together, have family dinners. This is the time to listen to your loved ones, be an ear and ease their fear. Suddenly we have all these time to spend, and who better to spend it with if not family?
- More me time
Eventhough it is fun to spend time with our loved ones, we all still need a little me-time to unwind and let the steam go. A simple relaxing bath with aromatic candles or sipping a glass of wine with a good book to read is often enough to recharge lost energy. In such a frightening time, it is a necessity to stay calm and keep a cool head.
- People start to pray for each other again.
Living in the world where everyone belongs to a certain group, it is sure a nice change to finally see people unite to fight one common enemy that is Corona virus. Especially in Indonesia where people have been dividing themselves based on their political views, it is really heart-warming to see old friends praying for each other again, putting all old grudges aside. This is how it should be all the time, in our opinion, and it is such a shame that it takes a global pandemy for us to start doing this. Still, better late than never, right?
- The riches got the opportunity to help the poor.
There has never been a better opportunity for the riches to use their wealth in helping those who are less fortunate. Despite the grim reality, it is again a nice change to see some of the most powerful people in the world donating millions and billions of their money to help other people in need. Many garment businesses have stopped their production and start making hazmat suits for the medics who have been having difficulties keeping the suppilies. Realtors are changing malls and hotels into makeshift hospitals to cater the need, some of them even giving the medics place to stay for free with meals and necessities included. Landlords are giving a couple months free of rent to help people stay on their feet. Honestly, these people restored our fading faith in humanity.
- Earth gets healed.
In case you have not heard, dolphins have been coming back to the Italian canals. Jakarta’s heavily polluted air is now blue again. The hole.in our ozone is getting smaller by the day. Mother Earth has never been this fit for decades, if not longer. Really, it is so sad that we need a pandemy to cure the planet we are living in, and frankly speaking, we are not sure if the situation will stay the same when the pandemy is over. Well, let us hope so.
- Antivaxxers sees for themselves what good immunity can do to our bodies.
Funnily enough, some anti vaxxers are finally realizing how much we need our immune system. While there has not been any official comment from the community, some of them have come to their senses and understand more about how fast illness can replicate and what they can do to the humankind.
- Governments are forced to utilize online services for the public.
This one our favorite. Imagine how.much time can be saved if we do not have to queue all day in the DMV and the likes. If givernments seemed like they have not realized that we have the internet now, they are finally forced to acknowledge and admit that it is possible to take care of things online. We are now expecting for online services in all government offices so we no longer have to spend hours queueing like we have no life.
- Companies are giving free or discounted products.
This one is also one of our favorite. If you are a parent, this is a perfect time for you to download free worksheets and learning materials for your kids. If you are not a parent, now is still a perfect time for you to get free things from the internet. People have been having so much free time that they are giving away their works for free online, you just have to know where to look for them.
- People starts to practice more hygienic lifestyle.
After spending years of a rather indifferent lifestyle, we are now forced to practice a much more hygienic way of life (which we should have been conducting after all) like washing hands properly and not touching our face so much. We also learn to wear masks everywhere, just like the Japanese have been doing all this time. Oh well, we hope we’ll keep practising these when the outbreka is finally over.
- We appreciate life more after seeing what can be taken away from us.
In general, we learn that we actually have so much things that we took for granted. We complain about having to go to work, and now we know what it feels to not be able to go to work. We abandon our parks and playgrounds and now we wish we can just go for a swing or two. We get so used to seeing our loved ones to the point where we get annoyed so easily by them, and now we pray everyday that everyone will stay healthy and that we’ll have many more time to spend with them in the future.
Those are the ten good things that Corona brings to our table. Ten good things that we as a race need to thank it for, and things that we as people need to maintain in the future. Let us all pray and hope for the best. For strength, and health. For a better world. Stay safe, people. Until next time.